What Media SHOULD Be Doing Online

Recently, I've come across several Web sites which are doing a great job of offering up news in a way that's compelling and smartly engages social media as part of the experience. None is associated with a traditional media outlet, and sadly, I think they had to come along because traditional media wasn't getting the job done online.

One is TheDigitel, a site that is local to Charleston, and produces its own content, as well as highlighting the best of news from other sources across the area. They describe themselves as "a Web outlet that 'gets it,' [that] provides the Web integration and savviness that is demanded by young adults who grew up during the Internet revolution."

TheDigitel.com strives to have good relationships with local media outlets. "We know that only through working together on the local level can we achieve the goal that we’ve set for ourselves: a comprehensive view of the community for everyone," they say.

I had the privilege of meeting the founders Ken Hawkins and Chris Gigante at an event I helped organize for the Charleston Parks Conservancy and these are smart guys who I think have done something the Post & Courier should have along time ago. If traditional media don't "get it" soon, they're done for in the not too distant future, I fear.

Here's what TheDigitel does right:

• Focuses completely on local content and on doing it right
• Has multimedia components; shoot their own video or use others' video when appropriate
• Has a most popular stories category
• Allows you to search by topic and location
• Provides links to related coverage at other media outlets -- TV, newspapers, radio, etc -- and related stories on their site, making it a true resource for ALL Charleston news
  
• Allows for comments
• Very clean site, easy to read

What else it could do:

• Offer ability to share articles on popular social media sites with one click
• Allow others to embed video so long as it credits TheDigitel
• Add RSS feeds by topic
  

This is a fairly new site, however, and I'm betting these things are in the works.

Now, let's compare to the Charleston Post & Courier site, the local paper of Charleston, S.C. Here's what the Post & Courier does right:

• Ability to share stories on social media sites with one click
• Ability to post comments
• Starting to include some video with stories
• Offers some RSS feeds
• Offer some audio clips
  

Here's what else it needs to do:

• Unclutter the pages; very distracting and difficult to read
• Add reporter blogs
• Improve search function; very clunky right now
  

In looking at these two lists, it appears the Post & Courier is not too far off TheDigitel, but visit the two sites and I think you'll see the difference. I believe the key here is for traditional media to incorporate social media in a way that is unintrusive and helps organize the news experience instead of adding to the clutter. TheDigitel gets this right.

Any other suggestions out there for how traditional media can "digitize" itself into maintaining an existence?

Get Your Pizza on Facebook

Who wants to sit on hold waiting for the person at the pizza place to get your order wrong? Not me. Well, now you can order your pizza, if you like Pizza Hut, on Facebook! Hooray! Now I can see the latest pictures of my friends and order a pizza too.

But all kidding aside, I do think that's a pretty smart use of Facebook. It gives people a reason to go to Pizza Hut's page beyond just getting general information. They say that they are one of only a few restaurants to have ordering capabilities via Facebook and the only pizza chain to do so.

And of course, the phone isn't the only way to order pizza these days. There are text messaging options, ordering via a Web site, and using your cell phone. But, personally I think Facebook is the coolest.

Would you order your pizza via Facebook?

Kodak Lets You Supersize Yourself

If you were a superhero, who would you be? Spiderman, Superman, The Flash? Well, Kodak is giving you the chance to be "super" -- well sorta, on their terms, I guess. They've come up with a very funny, and smart, campaign online to drive traffic -- and sales.

Remember ElfYourself from the last two Christmases? Well this is very similar, but a little smarter. Log on to MakeMeSuper.com, put in your sex, your name and upload your photo and they insert you into a grainy, 70's looking superhero video doing "superhero" things. It's not quite as funny as ElfYourself (the dancing on that one just killed me), but the song that accompanies it actually includes your name, which add a new funny element.

Now, the smartest part here is, unlike ElfYourself, which had nothing to do with OfficeMax that I could tell, this one relates. I mean Kodak is all about photos. And once you create your "super" self, you can then buy products with your new image on them. So they directly tied it to sales.

And, they're not even targeting traditional media with this campaign, instead focusing on bloggers and sites that can help this spread virally. But, you'd better bet, traditional media will hear about it and be all over it. Maybe even better they didn't hear about it directly; makes it more of a "scoop."

Check out "Super Lyn" and get a good chuckle. Send me yours or post them here so we can all have a good laugh.

Off I go to save the world!

Where Did You See the Palin Skits?

Alright, so most of you have probably seen Saturday Night Live's skits featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. They've been a big hit so far. I mean, how could they not? Tina Fey looks SO much like Palin and she does a great impression to boot. But, the question is, where did you see it?



As much as I hate to admit it, because it makes me feel like I am definitely no longer cool (well, not sure I ever was :)), but I never stay up to watch Saturday Night Live any more. OK, I haven't stayed up to watch it since my first son was born 4 1/2 years ago. I used to love SNL, but Mommy hours just don't allow for 1 a.m. nights anymore. I'm guessing I'm not alone in my un-coolness.

Thank goodness for the Web. Now, this mom, who, admission No. 2: does not have a DVR either, can watch the funny skits online at my leisure. The best part, I don't have to suffer through all the un-funny ones either.

A new survey came out recently that confirmed my suspicions: 51% of people who saw at least one of the Palin skits saw it on the Internet. They watched it either on YouTube, NBC.com or Hulu.com. Those of you who don't know about Hulu should check it out. It's one of my favorites. They have shows from NBC, FOX, Comedy Central, Bravo, Sci Fi, E!, FX and more on there, including tons of classic SNL skits (see: d%&* in a box with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg - caution: not family friendly), in a format that is actually appealing to view. Very high quality, not the grainy YouTube look. It's lovely.

I think this is a turning point for Web video and a real advantage that online can offer over TV. Sure, you can record your shows and watch them later, but for something short like an SNL skit, it's so much easier just to pull it up on your computer -- and even easier to forward it around, share it on Facebook, "tweet" it on Twitter and more.

Where did you see one of the Palin skits? Answer below:

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